In the construction trades there are many situations where nails end up on the ground for one reason or another. These nails left as is become a hazard if stepped on. The most prolific construction situation where nails are a big problem is in residential roofing. In most cases where the home has two roofs already, it is necessary to strip off the old roofing and start anew. As the old roof is stripped down to the roof boards, hundreds of roofing nails are freed up which cascade down and off the roof. It is very hard indeed to contain these loose nails. Therefore, the nails, and the shingle debris, usually end up on the lawn. This scrap is then picked up by hand and walked across the lawn and loaded into a truck. This is done around the perimeter of the home.
As the shingle scrap is usually large and heavy in nature, it can be removed without too much difficulty. However, finding the loose nails in the grass or bushes is hard to do as they can become embedded in the soil from the large amount of foot traffic loading the shingle scraps. As stated above, overlooked nails can cause injury if stepped on, and cause flat tires if driven on. Preventing injury is important as many children play in yards. It also happens that lawn mowers hit these nails and shoot them like bullets causing injury and damage.
There are magnetic devices which are designed to gather nails from the lawn after the shingle debris is removed. These devices consist of an elongated magnetic bar having a wheel situated at each end and a handle centrally attached to the magnetic bar. The wheels, being rigidly attached to the bar, keep the bar at a constant height off the ground. The magnetic field picks up nails which are then discarded. The elongated portion usually ranges in length from two to four feet. Because these devices skim the surface, they are more commonly referred to as magnetic sweepers, and can range in price from $125.00 to $350.00.
Another device which indirectly aids in collecting nails is the common multi-tined leaf rake. In grass and soil areas, the leaf rake is usually employed to gather up the smaller pieces of scrap after the heavy debris is loaded onto a truck. The rake can collect some of the nails but many slip through the large gaps in the tines. These tines are also flexible and allow the heavier scraps to remain in place on the lawn. Only after repeated strokes of the rake does the debris form a collectible pile. These repeated strokes often cause damage to the lawn by tearing the blades of grass with the tines.
The clean-up phase of a roofing job is one of the most important. A good job can get referrals and recommendations, and a bad job can cost you money, time, and open you up to insurance claims.
The above problems have necessitated a new and useful invention that uses components of both the magnetic sweeper, and the leaf rake to form a tool which does far more for much less. A main objective of the present invention is to provide a means for removing nails from the ground at the same time the clean-up is taking place. This is done by placing a magnetic bar along the lower span of tines on the leaf rake, and rigidly attaching same. Spaced at intervals along the "rake-side" of the bar are threaded studs which are inserted through the tines. A backing plate is then placed over the studs and wing nuts are tightened down.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a means for removing the nails from the ground which have been embedded due to foot traffic. Magnetic sweepers tend to miss these nails because they lack the magnetic pull needed to loosen the object from the soil. At any time after the clean-up is finished, the embedded nails can resurface and pose a potential hazard.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a means for removing the nails from around bushes, near the walls of the structure, and from areas too tight for a magnetic sweeper.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a tool which costs far less than a magnetic sweeper. It is foreseen that the present invention costs one-third of what a low-cost sweeper does.